What is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst

To be able to arrive at a decision to get a divorce can be extremely challenging. It takes a long time to consider all that it will affect in your life, and how you will deal with it. Along with draining you emotionally, a divorce can also affect you deeply when it comes to dealing with your finances. For some of you the financial aspect may not be above the emotional aspect of dealing with a divorce, but it is a factor to be considered nonetheless. Eventually, how the finances are to be divided, who gets what, and how a settlement is to be arrived at will have to be decided. It is at a point like this where arriving at a fair settlement seems beyond comprehension, that you may avail the services of a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA). Let's see a little about their functions, and how they can help you.

The Job of a CDFA

A CDFA is in fact a financial analyst or a financial adviser, who is trained in dealing with the short-term as well as the long-term financial aspect of a divorce. Since a divorce can have a drastic effect on your finances, and therefore, your future, utilizing the services of a CDFA will help you in the following aspects:

• The overall cost of the divorce
• Analyzing the difference between marital property and personal property
• The valuation and division of real estate
• The amount of alimony and time period through which it is to be paid
• The ownership of the house
• Cost of living after the divorce
• Cost of child support depending on the custody of the child
• The division of retirement accounts and the access to it
• Tax-related issues
• Division of the business (if any)
• The financial survival of both clients after the divorce settlement

How all these factors affect you in the long run are determined by a CDFA. What you may overlook during a particular moment, a CDFA is capable of foretelling and therefore, preventing you from any huge financial risks in the future. She/he considers the rising inflation and the increasing cost of living and survival. As such, you are able to make sensible and informed decisions while splitting finances during a divorce.

Why Should You Hire a CDFA?

Now you would assume that even the financial aspect of a divorce would come under the purview of divorce lawyers. While this is true in many cases, what you must keep in mind that a divorce lawyer is trained to handle the legal aspect and provide to you legal advice, rather than financial advice during your divorce. Due to postponements in the legal hearings, etc. your finances can be hit badly, which is where a CDFA comes into the picture, to protect your finances from the huge beating it is susceptible to at the time of a divorce.

The basic rule when it comes to hiring a CDFA is that one should be appointed by your divorce lawyer and not directly by you. A CDFA will work in close association with your lawyer and handle all the financial legalities pertaining to your divorce, ensuring that both parties get a fair settlement. If you directly hire a CDFA anything you say to them or provide as means of information may work against you in some cases. Simply put, your divorce attorney will be able to give them a clear perspective on your entire situation, whereas yours might be colored.

The fee of a CDFA is relatively lower than that of a lawyer. Hiring one thus, makes great economic sense because you get to protect your finances in the longer run. As difficult as taking such decisions may seem, it is important that you think practically when it comes to a divorce, because eventually survival does depend a lot on your finances, and securing them while taking this decision is of extreme importance.